lets break it down....

[Nestle]

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hi - so i was looking at some of the review books for step one... and in particular Lippincott for Biochem and Pharm look crazy in-depth... do you really need to memorize all that in order to do well (240+) on the exam? my friend's kaplan lecture notes have no way near that amount of material esp for biochem!

also, just wondering what you thought about the level of detail needed to know for each subject? what subject material seemed most difficult to you? were you surprised by the amount of material from any subject?

thanks!!

 

[ckent]

Just know what's in first aid for biochem and pharm. I actually used a review book called "Crashing the boards" for biochem too, I found that to be more useful for biochem now that i think about it, but if you are able to understand everything in first aid, it should be enough for a descent score. People kept telling me that I needed to memorize all of the biochem pathways, and I did, but I don't recall a single biochem pathway question on my exam. There might have been, I don't remember any more (took it several months ago). There were some biochem on my usmle, but I only had a few pharm questions. The pharm questions that I had could have been answered using first aid, so I'm glad that i didn't waste that much time on it.

 

[southerndoc]

I didn't think pharm or biochem was too in depth for step I.

Most of the pharm questions ask that you apply things... e.g., they will give you a set of signs and symptoms, you have to realize what it is, then pick the medicine that causes that. So instead of just memorizing that drug X causes condition A, you should know the signs and symptoms of condition A.

 

[AznTrojan]

from what i've heard about the exam.. it emphasizes the 3 P's.. pharmacology.. physiology.. and pathology...

 

[BellKicker]

IMHO studying more than First Aid for anatomy or biochem is a waste of time.

Yeah, 3 P's and Micro are key.

Good luck